i will get to the point !
i sold my Beautiful Ducati monster 1100 evo to purchase the 1290 Super Adventure
within the first week i had 2 fuses pop , one for the 12v and one for the suspension . before 500 miles on the bike it had already stalled out twice on the freeway at 60+ mph . the starter bound up and would not turn over the motor 5 separate occasions .the engine case had a factory hairline crack which was leaking oil so the dealership put a new motor in it , i did not want them to crack the cases on a brand new bike .the front and rear of the bike clanks and shakes , so the dealership ordered a new right front fork cartridge which is back ordered and they have no idea when it will arrive ! the panniers are horrible , the locking mechanism does not latch and you have to slam them repeatedly to get them to close , my panniers are now dented and only one latch now works .the dealership has ordered new panniers and locks . the fuel float has stuck on full since day one and i now have 6000 + miles on it . the left side of my instrument cluster is not the same color or brightness as the right side , i'm guessing the daytime light is not working ? The bike has terrible high speed wobble at only 100 mph so the dealership is going to give me a new brand of tire's . the preload on the rear shock stopped working , with the setting on 2 passenger and luggage , i can touch flat footed wearing Vans . normally i wear Boots with a big heel and i would still be on my toes . KTM does not consider this bike to be a lemon , they keep telling me that this is what the warranty is for and when i asked for them to give me an extended warranty for free they said no , that does not make me feel like they are very confident of this machine .

My KTM super adventure 2015 has convinced me that there is a definite Quality control problem at KTM. A list of problems, thousand miles on the bike.
1. I could not remove left bag, lock defective.
2. Fuel gauge read full, no matter how much fuel was in tank.
3. Both front fork seals seeping.
4. MY GAS TANK LEAKING ON HOT ENGINE.
I spoke to KTM four times, it seems like KTM is not interested in my leaking is tank, representative said if the gas tank leaks again let the dealer know.
After doing the research one KTM plastic is tanks I'm convinced that there may be inherit engineering problem with their gas tanks,
be careful.

I have about 6000 miles now on my 2015 Super Adventure. It has not been smooth sailing for me either.

I keep seeing a lot of professional reviews "Best bike Evah!" but nobody seems to live with them for more than a few hundred miles.

- Had programming issues from day one, eventually had a factory tech dial in to the dealerships configuration computer, update and reconfigure the dealers computer, and then reflash my 1290's computer.

- The factory 1290 Super Adventure Pannier side cases are absolute garbage. Honestly they are horrible, horrible, horrible. I have broken 3 sets of internal latches for them now. If the bike tips over (It's a damn adventure bike, it happens!) the little cheap plastic internals break and jam up the locking and opening and closing mechanism. The bike came with bulletproof crash bars, but the cases are made of Chinese plastic by North Korean engineers. Even brand new, to open or close the cases you have to fiddle and slam and hit and slap the lids. Dealership couldn't get them to work any better either. The cases are only mostly water proof, mud and debris can easily get up into the over complicated latching mechanisms. Sorry, but they are absolute junk and KTM should be ashamed of them.

- Conti Attack tires: I keep buying bikes with conti attacks on them from the factory. They wear really well and then go from "decent, that's at about 60% wear" to "fail on the side of the road" over the span of a few hundred miles. When they go, they go quick. The compound is also FAR to soft for gravel roads, the rocks cut them right up.

- Seat Comfort: Holy crap, is the factory seat like a brick for the first few thousand miles. And then gets marginally better. KTM Really should take a page out of BMW's book on this one.

- Height: I'm average height (5' 10"), and wow, is the seat height ever tall on this machine. You need to have an inseam of at least 36" to really touch the ground. Why KTM? You have fully adjustable electronic suspension, I don't need two feet of ground clearance all the time. Let me push a button and lower the damn thing.

- Windshield: What is that thing supposed to block? All it does is cause buffeting, and all but the highest setting is worse than having no windshield at all. Also, it's a bitch to move up and down.

Everything else about the bike is pretty damn brilliant however. The cases are the only thing I am REALLY unhappy with.

So here is my advice to anybody that is thinking of buying a 1290 Super Adventure: Don't. Buy the 1190 Adventure, get some decent cases, heated grips, crash bars, dual sport tires, high windshield, headlight protector and take the leftover money and go on a trip. The ONLY thing that the 1290 really does a lot better is the cruise control.

Spoon979 wrote:I have about 6000 miles now on my 2015 Super Adventure. It has not been smooth sailing for me either.

I keep seeing a lot of professional reviews "Best bike Evah!" but nobody seems to live with them for more than a few hundred miles.

- Had programming issues from day one, eventually had a factory tech dial in to the dealerships configuration computer, update and reconfigure the dealers computer, and then reflash my 1290's computer.

- The factory 1290 Super Adventure Pannier side cases are absolute garbage. Honestly they are horrible, horrible, horrible. I have broken 3 sets of internal latches for them now. If the bike tips over (It's a damn adventure bike, it happens!) the little cheap plastic internals break and jam up the locking and opening and closing mechanism. The bike came with bulletproof crash bars, but the cases are made of Chinese plastic by North Korean engineers. Even brand new, to open or close the cases you have to fiddle and slam and hit and slap the lids. Dealership couldn't get them to work any better either. The cases are only mostly water proof, mud and debris can easily get up into the over complicated latching mechanisms. Sorry, but they are absolute junk and KTM should be ashamed of them.

- Conti Attack tires: I keep buying bikes with conti attacks on them from the factory. They wear really well and then go from "decent, that's at about 60% wear" to "fail on the side of the road" over the span of a few hundred miles. When they go, they go quick. The compound is also FAR to soft for gravel roads, the rocks cut them right up.

- Seat Comfort: Holy crap, is the factory seat like a brick for the first few thousand miles. And then gets marginally better. KTM Really should take a page out of BMW's book on this one.

- Height: I'm average height (5' 10"), and wow, is the seat height ever tall on this machine. You need to have an inseam of at least 36" to really touch the ground. Why KTM? You have fully adjustable electronic suspension, I don't need two feet of ground clearance all the time. Let me push a button and lower the damn thing.

- Windshield: What is that thing supposed to block? All it does is cause buffeting, and all but the highest setting is worse than having no windshield at all. Also, it's a bitch to move up and down.

Everything else about the bike is pretty damn brilliant however. The cases are the only thing I am REALLY unhappy with.

So here is my advice to anybody that is thinking of buying a 1290 Super Adventure: Don't. Buy the 1190 Adventure, get some decent cases, heated grips, crash bars, dual sport tires, high windshield, headlight protector and take the leftover money and go on a trip. The ONLY thing that the 1290 really does a lot better is the cruise control.

I think the dealerships were on the back foot with KTM technology way back in 2016. They are much more experienced nowdays and either do better pre-delivery work or know what tweaks are needed after talking to an owner and how to do them. (I hear stories about Ducati/Aprilia/BMW/Triumph.....they all have some issues at times).

My 017 1290 SDGT has been 100% reliable and I cannot say a bad word about my local dealership (MRUs Springwood) or KTM Aus.

Ps I would've thought a test ride should have given a clue to issues like seat height/comfort etc.

PPs Also for the serious dirt adventurer's - the plastic cases aren't what I would use (they would be basically for road touring/light duty as they are very light weight and also huge). If I were into rugged adventuring I'd put the SW Motech racks on and run those rugged aluminium HB or Givi top loader cases or better still, use soft luggage that would weigh less and soak up any slow crash damage. Slamming panniers closed is not a fix for any adjustment issues (I had cases that wouldn't lock on easily to my Aprilia 1200 - fixed them with a small tweak to the latch pins rather than bust them with abuse).